The government have now put in place new legislation that requires mandatory calorie counts displayed on all menus in restaurants and takeaways in order to tackle obesity. This legislation is potentially harmful to those dealing or recovering from eating disorders.

But are eating disorders really a big enough problem to completely remove calories from menus ? The answer is yes. Did you know nearly 4 million people in the UK suffer from eating disorders and that 1 person dies every 62 minutes from an eating disorder.

Calorie counts on menus encourage unhealthy behaviours that can cause impressionable youngsters to develop eating disorders in the first place. Why is this a behaviour we want to normalise.

The government sees this as a technique to tackle obesity YET there is little to no proof that calorific nutritional guides on menus helps tackle the obesity epidemic. HOWEVER there is plenty of evidence showing the detrimental and triggering effects It has of people who have had or have an eating disorder.

Some argue that because “eating disorders” are termed mental health that they shouldn’t be priority at the moment.“Because the obesity epidemic is causing health problems and cardiovascular diseases” But what about the 20% that die from eating disorders? The ED sufferers that are more prone to heart attacks , seizures , bone loss , anemia , tooth decay , hair loss , stomach ruptures , loss of fertility ect ( the list goes on). This disease effects people physically , it is not simple or as clear cut as it seems.

This legislation is jeopardising the health of eating disorder suffers in order to help the health of obese people. Surely there is a way of tackling obesity that doesn’t involve damaging the already deteriorating mental health epidemic.

Millions are suffering with eating disorders , thousands of them are teens , the future of this country. It’s time this issue is taken seriously.

Calorie counts on menus are a trigger. Remove the trigger . Save lives.